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Prescription refills have been linked to cigarette purchases. New research reveals that patients taking medication to treat asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, high blood pressure and oral contraceptives often buy cigarettes when refilling their prescriptions at pharmacies.

Researchers said the latest findings are important because smoking cigarettes can make managing chronic illness more difficult and exacerbate certain conditions. Furthermore, visiting a pharmacy to fill prescriptions can be counterproductive if patients also buy cigarettes.

The latest study involved 361,114 patients who received pharmacy benefits through Caremark and filled a statin (medication to lower cholesterol) prescription between January 2011 and June 2012. The study used data from all purchases at CVS retail locations made with a CVS loyalty card.

Researchers found that 6 percent of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients, 5.1 percent of antihypertensive medication users and 4.8 percent of oral contraceptive medication users had at least one cigarette co-purchase.

"The decision of some pharmacies, including CVS, to stop selling cigarettes has been met with widespread support from public health and medical organizations. Similar actions by other pharmacies may help prevent cigarette purchasing by individuals at greatest risk," researchers concluded.

The findings are published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.